st of life, and safety--absolute sanctuary--from
everything sordid or petty. A whole society like that would justify
the creation of man and would make our planet shine with a soft,
peculiar radiance among the constellations. You think I'm putting it
on thick?"

The young man sighed gently. "Oh, no! One has always felt there must
be people like that. I've never known any."

"They had two children, beautiful ones. After they had been married
for eight years, Rosina met this Spaniard. He must have amounted to
something. She wasn't a flighty woman. She came home and told Dudley
how matters stood. He persuaded her to stay at home for six months
and try to pull up. They were both fair-minded people, and I'm as
sure as if I were the Almighty, that she did try. But at the end of
the time, Rosina went quietly off to Spain, and Dudley went to hunt
in the Canadian Rockies. I met his party out there. I didn't know
his wife had left him and talked about her a good deal. I noticed
that he never drank anything, and his light used to shine through
the log chinks of his room until all hours, even after a hard day's
hunting. When I got back to New York, rumors were creeping about.
Dudley did not come back. He bought a ranch in Wyoming, built a big
log house and kept splendid dogs and horses. One of his sisters went
out to keep house for him, and the children were there when they
were not in school. He had a great many visitors, and everyone who
came back talked about how well Dudley kept things going.

"He put in two years out there. Then, last month, he had to come
back on business. A trust fund had to be settled up, and he was
administrator. I saw him at the club; same light, quick step, same
gracious handshake. He was getting gray, and there was something
softer in his manner; but he had a fine red tan on his face and said
he found it delightful to be here in the season when everything is
going hard. The Madison Avenue house had been closed since Rosina
left it. He went there to get some things his sister wanted. That,
of course, was the mistake. He went alone, in the afternoon, and
didn't go out for dinner--found some sherry and tins of biscuit in
the sideboard. He shot himself sometime that night. There were
pistols in his smoking-room. They found burnt out candles beside him
in the morning. The gas and electricity were shut off. I suppose
there, in his own house, among his own things, it was too much for
him. He left no letter